Method of treating ores.



i?. BGGMEY.

METHOD F TRE/WING GRES.

APPUCMION mso JUNE l 1913.

Patented Apu i3, i915.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

E. BAGGAL VH F "I'EM'ING GRES.

Mmmm@ man mwa H, was.

INVEIMTQ H citizer RALPH BAGGALIEY, UF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANA..

nennen or urinarias onus.

Spcccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented lpr. 2Enl,

Application lled lune 3.7, 1915i. Serial No. 774,173.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that l, RALPH Bessemer, a of theUnited States, residing; at lFittshurg'h, in the county of Allegheny andtritate of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful .improvement inthe Methods of vFllreating,lr Ures, of Whichthe following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference,

being had to the accompanying drawings,

forniingpart of thisspeciflcation, in Which-' Figures l and latogether'show a diagrammatic side elevation of my preferred form ofcomplete apparatus for sinclting and relining ores, and absorbing andneutraliZinnr the fumes. lig. 2; is a crossesection of the neutralizingtank. lig. 3 is a sectional side eleration of the neutralizingapparatus. Fig. l is a cross-section of the ore screens. Fig. 5

is a sectional side elevation of said ore f screenen lilly inventionrelates to the sxneltinglr of oresrparticularly ores such as copper,gold and Silver ores, in the smelting of which enormous volumes ofdeleterious fumes are discharged. y

lt is Well known that in the neighborhood :of snacltingn plants Withores containing sulfur, arsenic, 35e., vegetation is practicallydestroyed, often for a radius of thirtyyor forty rniles. Many attemptshave heen 'made to avoid this difculty, fout 'Without success.

" Many copper snielting-plants are Vnow shut down as the result ofin1unctions obtained titlv hli \ from 'the i as 'Well to utilize aportion of the fumes as fuelin parts of the apparatus.

Another very important object of my 1nvention 1s to reduce or do awayWith the volatilization of valuable metals, and also to reduce' or loarray with the use of carhonaceous fuel in snaeltinn1 the ores.

ln carrying out nay invention in its pre ferred forni, l deliver thefumes into'` and through a body of neutralizing' material, preferably ina liquid condition. llhe feines rising through this liquid bath ofneutraliting"A material, Which is preferably milk of lime, will berendered substantially harmless so that the vapors given ed will havelittle or no .deleterious eect. Further, li prefer to pass the fumes incontact with the oreu feed previous to feedingP them into the newtralizing material, thus causing' a heavy de posit of sulfur, iron,zinc, &c., on the ore, thus drying the ore, adding fuel value to it, andpreheating it to a degree less than the fusion point of sulfur.

lin carrying out my system, l 'do'away ,with the expensive stack and Huesystem non1 generally employed, and .employ a pressure blower whichsucks the fumes through a flue and forces them through the neutralizinghath, after having heen cooled by passa-ge through the ore-feed; andalso preferably .by passing them through cooling tlues prior to reachingthe ore-feed. j This preliminary' cooling is important in order toprevent the fusingof the sulfur in the ore as the hot fumes come' incontact therewith;

A small percentage of the calcium sulfate formed by the rising of thefumes through themilk of lime hath may be safely fed into l theconverter, but this amount should he lim ited owing to the sulfur in thecompound and the inability of the slag in the converter to absorb morethanone per 'cent thereof..

The. greater portieri ofthe calcium sulfate and calcium sulfineutralizing` tank 'and is storedi lt niny'he used es a, fertilizer orfor the production of matte With which the' primary-'converter 3 issupplied. 'As soon vas this-bath-of melted lowfgrade matte is suppliedtothe converter 3, the furnace may be 4and preferably is 105 closedotl',and its operation permanently stopped. Uf course, finely pre-meltlowigrade matte obtained from: some other source Vfor the' first bath in`the* converter,

is taken away freni. the

I which converter thereafterncts upon ore and 1,1@

takes the place of the blast furnace commonly used. The ore for theconverter 3 may be supplied from suitable bins/, 4, from which the feedpasses through spouts 5, 5 5 which may be controlled in any desirableway.

6 represents the trough, bylwhich the lowgrade matte may be suppliedfrom the blast furnace for the preliminary bath in the con- 10 verter bygravity.

The converter discharges its fumes into a flue 7, whiclr-is preferablyinclined upwardly as shown in order to provide for the gravity dischargeof matte from the pri- -:l5 mary converter 3 to the secondary converter8 at a lower level, this matte .flowing by 'gravity through spoutindicated at 9. Silicious ore or silicious material may be fed into thesecondary' converter 8 from bin 10 through feed-control spout 11. Theconv verter 8 discharges fumesinto the flue 7, as

` shown, and l may also employ a refining furnace -12 of special design,which if usedalso dischargesits fumes into the flue 7.

The upper end of flue 7 discharges the fumes into a series of coolinglues 13 (Figs. 1a and 5), and as the fumes flow through the smallchannels or conduits of this cooling devic'efwhich are exposed to theatmosphere, the fumes will be cooled down by radiation and conduction toa point where they will not fuse the sulfur in the ore with which theynext contact. The lower ends of these cooling tlues, which arepreferably /arranged in an inclined position, discharge finto a large'chamber 14.- (Fig. 5), through (which the ore-feeds pass. In the form lshown, the top of this chamber is provided with a series of hoppers 15,discharging onto 40 inclinedrefractory steps 16 of vitritied material,down which the ore streams flow in an inclined position.v At the bottomof these steps the ore streams discharge onto inclined bottom portions,and at their spouts 17 onto a suitable conveyer 17". This conveyer maybe of any suitable type and is for carrying the ore and delivering it tothe primary or smelting converter.` The cooled .fumes pass through theseore streams and pass out at the opposite end of the chamber through flue18. The Ifeed of the ore4 streams may be regulated by any suitablevalve' or gate mechanisms, and during the operation the ore is dried,preheated and Vsupplied with additional material in the form of sulfur,zinc, iron, antimony, arsenic, and other oxidizable elements and com`pounds, which aid in the production of heat in the primary converter.

The fumes which have now been decreased by the deposit of these elementsand compounds on the ore and have been further cooled,,pass on throughconduit 19 (Fig. 1) to the suction and pressure blower shown 65 at 20,through whichthey are sucked and forced onward through due 21, from thesides of which a large number of small exit l pipes 22 F ig. 2) feed thefumes into the 4lower portion of a bath of milk of lime in a reservoir23. The fumes 'are forced downwardly under this bath under preferablyabout four pounds pressure, and the bath is .preferably nine or ten feetdeep so that the small bubbles of fumes pass up through thisneutralizing andcooling bath. This bath not only forms calcium rsulfateand calcium sulite by combination between the lime and the sulfur of thefumes, but also cools the fumes and neutralizes them so that thedischarge from this bath into the atmosphere is comparatively innocuous.

-The exact depth of the bath may be, of course, varied; vand thenecessary depth will depend upon the size of the pipes 22 and the sizesof the gas bubbles escaping there from. The eective depth should besufli;

cient in all casesto give time for a complete neutralizingeffectup'onthe gas bubbles.

., I prefer to form the end portion 21 of the line 20 which has the exitpipes 22, with a volatilizable jointv at 21". By means of a motor 21geared toisaid end portion, as indicated at 21d, said portion may beturned to ruaise the pipes 22 out of the bath to enable them to becleaned when'necessary.

The system should be so proportioned and arranged that the fumes andgasesbe cooled to a point beloa7 300 degrees Fahrenheit in the radiatingtubes and in the ore-feed or screen chamber, since thereby the containedvalues will be precipitated and incrusted on the ore. If it be foundthat arly values are lost in the neutralizing tank, then the gases maybe further cooled in any suitable manner before discharging them intothe neutralizing bath. Thus the values may be rccovered from the f umesand gases before they reach the neutralizing tank, and may be thereaftertreated in the manner ofhan dling concentrates, flue dust, fines, Sac.

The deposited calcium sulfate and calcium sulfite in the neutralizingtank or vat may be removed in any 'suitable manner, as for instance, bya conveyor 24 (Figs. 2 and 3) operating within agutter 25 formed in thebottom portion of the tank. The path of this conveyer isdiagrainiatically shown in Fig. 1, the material preferably being car-`ried up to a point where it is deposited upon another conveyer 26, bywhich it may be taken overto and delivered into the orc hop pers 15.-The largest amount of this product,

however, is deflected from this"con\f'e. er at an intermediate point,and may betaken to storage bins for use as fertilizer or convex sioninto other commercial products.

'27 (Fig. 3) is a bin, from which lime may be fed through controlledchutes 2S into the milk of lime bath to replace the lime which isconverted into sulfateand sulte; and 29 lll' represents e."WitterfeedYto this tenir; 3U (Figs. l und 3) beingthe overflow spout which ispreferably used to maintain e constunt level therein. n

The 'choin'ber 'll l) is preferably provided with side openings havingremovablel closures il, and through which. the cre may be reached esshown in Fig. fl. ll the ore streams clog in'this chamber,poiring'devices may be inserted. through these openings and the cloggedportions brolcenup to allow the streams of ore to flow so that the fumesmay continuously Contact with' lli titi

fresh portions ot (ore.

' ll'lhere the secondary converter 8 (Fig. lll is used in the system,lit is employed to reduce the matte to blister copper byk feedingininerzil-beerinn-` silicious ores into it7 und it also discharges itsfumes into the mein flue. ln like manner, the refining furnace 1Q whenused will discharge fumes into the some 11min line.'Y

The advantages of my invention will be obvious tothose Vskilled in theort', since the destruction orl vegetation is greatly reduced orentirely avoided, loss by voletilizetion of values is largely prevented,a valuable by-v product is obtained, and t .e labor cost is low. l.

i 'Many variations may be mede in. the form and .ei-rangement of theapperstus., Without departing from iny invention, und l intend to coverportions of my system es to both process und apparatus 'Withoutreference to whether other ports ore used or not.

lo. ln. the smelting or copper, gold 'and silver ores, the method ofpreventing the escupe into the atmosphere oit injurious fumes and dustfrom u. turno-ce, which. con sists in vdelivering them in relativelysinoll streams into e. beth oli neutralizing liquid et n considerabledistance below the surlecel thereof and permitting them to pass 11p-I,vinrdly through such beth7 substantially es described.

2. ln the smelting of suld ores, the

` method which consists in conveying; the sulfur-bearing l'uinesresulting trom. the smelting end reducing operation and conducting themin relatively smell streams into o beth containingmilk ot' liniest epoint consider ably belovv its surface. thereby causing the fumes -tobubble upyverdly through the beth; substantially es described.

3. ln the smelting oi" sullid ores, the method which. consists inconfining; the fumes end dust r sultingW iiroiio the sineltingoperations, und bringing them. into contact With. l'resh ore, undthereafter iforcing the gases in smell streams s liquid beth containingu neutrulieing agent lor 'the sulfur cpinpounds in the'gosesj; subst.,itiolly described.

l. ln the srncltingA ot copper., gold end silver ores, the method which.iconsists in the'srnelting of the ores in o; closed lurnice7 conveyingthe fumes end dust-troni the fur noce through e. closed passage sindinto contact with velue-bearing material, end thereelter forcing' thegases into o. liquid beth containing e neutralizing :igentasubstantiolly es described.

lin the sinelting of copper7 gold end silver ores? the method Which-lconffs Yin smelting and converting the ores conlining the fumes resulting,lfrom the sinelting open vation und bringing them into Contact withvalue-bearing materiel to preheet the suine for use in the smelting andconverting operotions, end causing seid velue-bearing materiel toreceive a deposit of the ore and fuel values contained in the fumes andreducing the temperature ot'ssid gases before bringing them in Contactwith such materiel to e temperature below that et which tlile gases willcause fusion oi the sulfur coriteined in seid materiel, substantially'es described.

6. The method of handling injurious fumes from copper snielting andconverting operations, which consists inbringing them in Contact withore and previously cooling' the fumes to e temperature below that etwhich they Will cause fusion of the sulfur contained in described. n

7. The method of handling injurious fumes troni copper smeltng andconverting opera-tions, which consists individing the fumes into o,plurality of releltively small streams and subjecting them to e coolingaction While so divided, and then bringing them into contact with ore,substantially es described.

8; lntli/ method of handling injurious uniesresuting from the treatmentof sulfide ores. the steps which consist in confining the fumes undcooling them,I then bringa ing1 'the turnos into Contact with ore miteria'l to separete ore und fuel values troni Athe ruines and cerise suchvalues to be de posited upon the ore materiel, sind then conducting` thefumes through e' liquid beth of neutralizing materiel, substantially asdescribed. i

9. lu the method olf handling injurious fumes resulting frnn4 thetreatment of sut tide ores, the steps which consist in conducting thefumes through closed channels in which they ere subjected to o coolingfoperof tion, then bringing ,the 'fumes in Contact with ore ineteriultoseperate ore sind fuel ce 'f seid ore, 'substantially es v velues fromthe fumes snol cause such vall ues to be `deposited upon the oremateriel, und tli-ln conducting the' uines throughl o milk of linieisubstantially :is describen; ff. v

l0.flli`he method ot" treating; llid ore, which. consists in'ieeding" itinto .molten lll@ y J9 a um .1.

beth undergoing conversion, and passing; the uines theei'roin upwardlyin small streams through e bath of milk of linie, substantially asdescribed. i

il. in. ythe snielting Aand. conversion'jef method which consists informing a ien@ grade matte, snbjeoting the same to a eonversion, feeding0re-bearing material into the eonverter, conducting the fumes from theconverter and into contant with fresh ore material to prehent the same,depositing `thereon ore and tuel values contained in the fumes5 and thenpassing the fumes through a neutrlizing bath, substantially asdescribed.

In, the treatment ofv sulid ores, the methodlfavliich consists in"lforming a iow grade inntte, subjecting the seme to e eonversion, feedingore-bearing'-n'interial into the converter, .conducting the vfumes fromthe converter ond into Contact with fresh ore materiel to vprelient theseine, depositing thereon ore and uei vii/lues contained in the fumes,pssing the fumes through n neutral izing beth, and cooling the :fumesbefore bringing them into Contact With the ore nin- 'R consisting incooling `reeoverin tially as vdescribed.

.sisting of cooling 'terizii to temperature beiow 200 degrees Fsubstantially described 11i. The n'iethod of presenting eseepe into theatmosphere of injurious fumes and dust insultingfrom 'the treatment ofsulid ores, which consists in confining the fumes resulting froni'thesmelting and reducing operaitions, conveying` the fumes and dividing,lthem into e multiplicity of relatively small streams, :ind causing saidstreams to be discharged Within e liquid bath containing e. neutralizingagent, substantially as describedl 15. n the treatment of ores, thesteps the fumes to a. point below 30G degrees iinhrenheit1l bringing;them in Contact with value-benring materials, and. the values therefrom;substan- 1G.A In the treatment of ores, the steps conthe fumes to apoint below 300 degrees Fel. :enheit, bringing them in Contact withvelue-bearing materiels, thence passing them through n, neutralizing,rbath,Il and 4recovering the values from said veluebearing materials;substantially as described. i

lin testimony whereof, have hereunto set my hand.

RALPH BAGGALEY. Witnesses:

C. l?. Breites, H. M. CORWIN.

fie

GCI

